Many modern technological systems and/or methods implement some form of photonics. For example, many modern technological systems and/or methods implement some form of light (e.g., photon) generation, light detection, and/or light manipulation. Silicon photonic applications rely heavily on waveguides to guide light. However, forming lenses, prisms, or other structures from waveguides can be problematic.
One application of photonics is in head mounted displays, virtual reality display, or augmented reality displays. However, conventional displays implemented as head mounted, virtual, or augmented displays typically have a much narrower field of view than the user. However, as displays are magnified to cover larger fields of view, what is referred to as the “screen door effect” becomes more prevalent. The screen door effect refers to dark spaces between pixels that become noticeable to a user as the perceived image is magnified.
Another application of photonics is stereo and structured light projectors. Such projectors typically rely on a combination of lasers and refractive or diffractive optics. However, these optics add bulk as well as additional components to the projectors, increasing their complexity and cost. Another application of photonics is to filter some portion of light. However, conventional filtering techniques require additional lenses, prisms, or waveguides to filter light, thereby increasing bulk and cost of the devices.